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Re: Free Burma!! (s.c.burma)



Subject: Re: Free Burma!! (s.c.burma)

Newsgroups: soc.culture.burma
Subject: Free Burma!!
Lines: 84

O>PepsiCo has opened a bottling plant in Burma.  This helps SLORC in two
O>ways:  PepsiCo's investment provides SLORC with much-wanted foreign

Well... I don't think Pepsi makes SLORC survive, given all the
foreign money that one government (China) gives SLORC, but let's say
for the sake of argument that SLORC's main foreign currency income is
from Pepsi, because that is the worst case.
from Pepsi, because that is the worst case.

If we -- you and me and everybody in a boycott -- closes down Pepsico
or at least makes it pull out of Burma, how does this weaken SLORC?
Yes, they don't have some/all their foreign currency. So they're back
to, say, 1985. And then.... ??? I didn't notice SLORC having any
trouble holding onto power before Pepsico hove into sight.

I ALSO didn't notice Marcos or the Shah or Gorbachev holding onto
power WITH Pepsico around. I ALSO didn't notice Castro, Mao or Ho Chi
Minh collapsing WITHOUT Pepsico.

O>currency, and PepsiCo's presence & image is used by SLORC to show that

Who cares about Pepsico's image? This is the company that had Michael
Jackson doing its ads for ONE BILLION DOLLARS! This is the company
that makes.... er, doughy... um, stuff and calls it pizza! Compared to
Pizza Hut, SLORC is an actual, measurable IMPROVEMENT for Pepsico's
image.

O>the West considers them the legitimate govt.  PepsiCo's presence helps
O>'legitimize' SLORC.  Ads for Pepsi have been in every SLORC-controlled
O>newspaper I've seen.

My question is not whether SLORC or Pepsico is sleazy. I don't give a
snit about SLORC or Pepsico's image. ALL governments are sleazy, and
most corporations are. [ Yawwwwwn ]

My concern is ENTIRELY with the Burmese people who have chosen a
government and been denied it. If we all trash Pepsi, will they get
that government? If so, you haven't made a case. If so, MAKE that
case and I'll be out in front of you, not tagging along behind, in
trashing Pepsi out of business everywhere.

Or is this just one of these "we all have to do what we can" ideals?
If so, you'll have to live with the idea that (a) some people are
doing a lot MORE, and (b) some people see "what we can do" as
entirely useless and therefore do other useful things like going to
see a movie or watching a Star Trek rerun or (YES! these people
actually exist, breathing our air) calling up Pizza Hut and ordering
a giant one with everything.

O>If you want more detailed information, I can mail you an information
O>package which briefly explains the PepsiCo boycott, corporate
O>withdrawal from Burma in general, and the situation in Burma.  (Most

It's going to take a lot of people to put Pepsico out of business.
Let's make this public, if you send it anywhere.

In my opinion, as of today, you're misguiding the energy of any
pro-Burma dynamic that might exist by directing it at a corporation
which is neither here nor there to the future of Burma. In the REAL
world, SLORC gets its money from illicit opiate trafficking and
China. If Pepsico disappears entirely from the planet Earth tomorrow,
SLORC will be sitting pretty, at least that what it seems to me.

O>of this would be old news to s.c.b regulars, I suspect.  It's intended
O>for a broader, Western audience.)

Most/all of it would be old news to me, for sure. If anyone wants it,
I think you should post it yet again, though. Never know when you're
going to influence a wrong-minded lurker.

O>NB: some PepsiCo shareholders have submitted a resolution for the next
O>AGM in May '94 calling for PepsiCo to withdraw from Burma.  A boycott

Good for them. It's their money, their company. I think they should
run it exactly as they see fit, in line with any laws of course.
That's certainly what I do with MY company.

 - Alan Dawson (president@xxxxxxx)


 * Cheer Up! Things are getting worse at a slower rate.

 - from Alan Dawson